


Make it Work

by foxxlight



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Age Difference, Alpha Oh Sehun, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - College/University, First Meetings, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Omega Kim Joonmyun | Suho
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-05-08 10:17:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14692139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foxxlight/pseuds/foxxlight
Summary: Junmyeon is a grad student who has spent his entire college life focused on his career. Finding a mate was pretty far down on his to-do list.Oh Sehun is a undergrad student starting his second year. He has spent most of his time with his best friend Jongin, and Jongin's older brother Minseok.The two of them just might be able to make it work.





	Make it Work

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Suhoney round 3 (prompt #135)

Junmyeon was running late. He’d woken up disoriented in his office, glasses askew due to having fallen asleep wearing them, with his hair uncomfortably greasy and his phone alarm blaring. His sleep fogged brain managed to provide him precious seconds of morning haze before he registered the date and subsequently launched into panic mode. He’d fallen asleep in his office, obviously hadn’t finished grading, and was a twenty minute walk from the place he was meant to be in fifteen. Figures he’d not only forget to change his alarm, but also end up not returning to his temporary residence.

He didn’t have many options. There was no way he’d be able to shower, change, and make it without being ridiculously late. Even if he borrowed a shower facility on campus, he didn’t have any soap or shampoo to use. The only thing he’d brought with him was what he needed for his classes, a change of clothes, and his toothbrush. Everything else had been packed into boxes and loaded onto a truck the day beforehand. As unpleasant as it was, he just had to suck it up and deal. 

Unlocking his phone, Junmyeon sent two texts before fishing the charger out of his bag and plugging it in for a quick charge. The first text he sent was to the friend he’d arranged to stay with the previous night; an apology for having never shown up and leaving his texts unanswered. The second was to Minseok, who was going to be waiting a bit longer for him to show up than originally planned. After that, it was just scrambling to brush teeth, attempts to fix the lost cause that was his hair, and throwing on his comfiest sweater and jeans, pre-planned because he knew comfort was important when doing somewhat strenuous activity, before grabbing his things and hurrying off campus.

➷

“Sorry I’m late,” Junmyeon said as he came to a stop in front of Minseok and two strangers. He sounded a bit winded due to the speed with which he used in order to make their wait only ten minutes longer, and he was positive he wasn’t making a great first impression on the two newcomers but, what could he do?

“Don’t worry about it; you gave us a warning and that’s more than most people would have done. What happened to you, though?” The concern in Minseok’s voice made Junmyeon feel about ten times better -- if Minseok wasn’t upset, he was probably in the clear with the other two as well -- and afforded the group with only a slightly embarrassed laugh and smile.

“Fell asleep in my office grading last night. And I forgot to set my weekend alarm for earlier than usual. Basically, I just have a hectic two days ahead of me. The semester only just began and I’m already tired.”

“It’s just the transitioning phase. It was the same when you were an undergrad right? And again when you went for masters. So the pattern follows, and your first couple weeks of grad school are overwhelming. It’ll be a lot better once you’re settled into your new apartment.”

“Strange time for your lease to be up,” one of the strangers standing behind Minseok comments, maybe under his breath, but Junmyeon hears and so he answers the unasked question.

“Ah, yeah. It’s because I wasn’t actually on the lease of my last apartment. Some friends of friends had the apartment and weren’t in school so the leasing time wasn’t regulated by semester dates. When one of them moved back home my friend told me they were looking for someone to move in until the lease was up and I hated my roommate at the time so…”

“Makes sense to me,” the second stranger offered with smile, extending his hand for Junmyeon to take. An omega, he thought as he stepped forward and caught a hint the other’s scent. “Sehun,” the omega gestured to the person standing slightly behind him, “had the worst roommate last year. Guy was one of those stereotypical alpha assholes, so they didn’t get along at all. I’m Jongin, by the way. Minseok’s younger brother. This is my best friend Oh Sehun.”

“Hey,” Sehun mumbled, seeming to hesitate before he offered his hand for Junmyeon to shake.

“Nice to meet you,” Junmyeon said as he reached forward to take the extended hand. The sudden scent of alpha reaching his nose was startling, and Junmyeon was pretty sure he didn’t hide his surprise well, judging by how quickly Sehun retracted his hand. He felt bad instantly for making the other uncomfortable, which Minseok must have picked up on.

“Alright, now that we’ve got introductions out of the way, let’s get to work. Junmyeon, you go inside and get the keys for the apartment and wait for us inside. We’ll start unloading the truck.”

Junmyeon nodded, shooting a quick smile at Jongin and Sehun which he was certain looked incredibly awkward, before he turned toward the building. He and Minseok had already discussed rotating who helped bring boxes in and who stayed in the apartment while it was unlocked. Since he was the only one who could receive the key from the manager, it made the most sense for him to sit out first.

The process went smoothly, aided by the fact that Junmyeon had met with the building manager before and was remembered. It wasn’t a very big place, only twenty units, so people knew each other well enough. He went through the motions easily, making brief small talk before heading up to the third floor where his apartment was located.

While he waited he couldn’t help but think of Sehun and how uncomfortable he’d probably made him by reacting as he had. He really shouldn’t have been surprised. Junmyeon was raised right; no one in his immediate family had been traditional in any sense of the word. He knew better than to assume anyone’s secondary gender by judging their appearance and mannerisms. Jongin had even said that Sehun had had an alpha roommate, and the university only had co-ed floors, not co-ed dorms. So he knew that Sehun was either an alpha or a beta, just like he knew Minseok’s younger brother and his best friend, two people who frequented Minseok’s stories but had yet to meet Junmyeon until that day, were starting their second year of undergrad and had therefore lived on campus the previous year.

Junmyeon had known all of that. He had no excuse for making Sehun feel uncomfortable, intentionally or otherwise. He usually prided himself on how unassuming he was about those types of things. But Sehun’s scent had been so _strong_ \-- it was entirely unexpected. Junmyeon had to wonder how he hadn’t smelt it before getting close to the alpha. Usually when people had scents that powerful, you could identify their secondary gender without invading their personal space.

Those thoughts weren’t able to go on for much longer, which Junmyeon was thankful for. He tended to get caught up in his head and he already had enough to do as it was. He had a whole stack of assignments left to grade before the weekend ended, and on top of that he would need to unpack his apartment and get settled in as much as possible. The distraction of his three helpers arriving with arms full of boxes was welcomed.

“This is a nice place,” Jongin complimented after setting down the two boxes he’d been carrying. “It’s great that it’s pre-furnished. Sehun and I had to buy furniture for our place.”

“You two live together?” Junmyeon asked without really thinking. Then he proceeded to turn red because that sentenced coupled with his reaction earlier definitely made him seem like a traditionalist asshole. “Shit. Wait, that’s not what I meant at all! I--”

Jongin’s laughter didn’t allow for Junmyeon to fully launch into his apologetic rant. He was quick to clap Junmyeon on the shoulder when he noticed his pained expression, too. “I know you didn’t mean it in any sort of way, Junmyeon. Minseok is friends with you, after all. No way my brother would befriend someone like that, let alone introduce me and Sehun to him.”

Junmyeon remained hesitant, of course. Jongin was a lot like his brother though, the omega was quick to learn when the younger kept talking and exposed the very thing that had been making Junmyeon feel out of whack. “And you don’t need to worry about what happened out front. You didn’t upset Sehun or anything, he’s just awkward with new people. That, and he’s got a strong scent so it tends to surprise people. He’s fine, so don’t let it mess with your head, alright?”

“Okay…” Junmyeon nodded, glancing over at where Minseok and Sehun were adjusting the boxes to get them out of the way for the next batch. When Sehun glanced up and caught him looking, Junmyeon offered a smile a lot more genuine than the previous one. He didn’t get more than a head nod in return, but he felt a lot better about everything.

The small interaction even returned enough of his confidence for him to turn back around and repeat his earlier question. “So… you live together?”

➷

The next time Junmyeon saw Sehun was, once again, thanks to Minseok. Junmyeon had been holed up in his apartment, pouring over assignments for one of the classes he helped teach, when his phone started to ring. It took some digging, but he was able to locate it before the call went to voicemail.

“Hello?” Not saying much over the span of four hours left his voice sounding scratchy.

“You need a break. I just ordered fried chicken and it’ll be here soon after you.”

Junmyeon sighed but didn’t argue. He really could use a break. “I’ll be over soon, then. Thanks Minseok.”

“No problem. And don’t stress too much about the work that’s due on Monday. It’s only Friday night, you’ve got the whole weekend left, and you won’t get much done if you don’t take breaks once in a while.”

“I know, I know. You said that two weeks ago when you helped me move into my apartment.” Junmyeon’s reply was tired but, he was smiling as he put the phone on speaker to change into a comfortable pair of sweats and a crewneck. 

“Huh, I must’ve forgotten to say it last Friday. Oh well, you’ll have to learn to manage without me eventually.”

“What, so you’re saying you’re going to leave me?” Junmyeon asked dramatically, laughing when the sound of Minseok’s laugh crackled through his phone’s speaker.

“Only once you’ve found a mate I can pawn you off on.”

“Pawn me off?” Junmyeon clicked his tongue, grabbing his phone off the bed and switching off speaker mode. “Whatever, asshole. I’m going to find an alpha who’s way better than you.”

“Jun, that would require you to actually date. When was the last time you did that?” Junmyeon’s silence was answer enough. “That’s what I thought.”

“I’ve just… been really focusing on myself, y’know? There was never anyone who understood that. They always wanted to get super serious right from the start, and couldn’t understand why I didn’t want to mate and settle down right away.” Junmyeon bit his lip as he thought back to some of the alphas he’d been interested in back in his undergraduate days. “Either that, or they wanted to be completely casual -- that’s just not me, Minseok. I need someone who understands that there’s a balance between the two, not just one or the other.”

“I know, Jun. I’m sorry for bringing it up. You’re going to find someone who loves you for who you are and is willing to take things at a pace that suits both of you.” 

Minseok sounded like he genuinely felt bad about the turn the conversation took, and Junmyeon didn’t like it. “I know that. It’s just hard to think that way sometimes. I’m not upset about it though, so you really don’t have to sound that way. I’m happy with myself and how my life is going right now. The right person will come along eventually. Or, that’s what I’m choosing to think, anyway.”

“Positive thinking does a world of good, or so they say. Where are you right now?”

“Just got in the taxi.” Junmyeon heard someone else talking as he answered, but he couldn’t hear well enough to know who the person was or what they said.

“Sorry, Jongin wanted to know if you were coming,” Minseok explained once he’d finished answering his brother.

“Jongin is there?” Then, to his uber driver who was pulling up at the gated apartment community Minseok lived in; “Thanks, you can drop me off here.”

“Yeah. Sehun too. We’re having a movie night as soon as you and the chicken get here. You on your way up?”

Junmyeon reiterated the driver’s ‘have a good night’ before getting out of the car and walking up to the gate. He and Minseok were close enough that he knew his friend’s passcode, allowing him entrance without using the callbox. “Yeah, I just keyed in the code. I’ll be up there in three.”

“Okay, see you in a few.”

Minseok hung up after that, and Junmyeon proceeded toward Minseok’s building, entering without an issue and taking the elevator to the fifth floor. He didn’t bother to knock once he reached the alpha’s apartment, just walked right in, kicking his shoes off at the door as he called out a greeting.

“Did you happen to see the chicken guy on your way up?” Minseok asked as he appeared from the living room entryway.

“No.” Junmyeon shook his head, his attention quickly drawn to Jongin and Sehun as they appeared beside Minseok.

“Hey Junmyeon, glad my brother dragged you away from certain boredom to hang out. How’s the new place?” Jongin asked, stepping forward to pull the older omega into a hug.

Junmyeon smiled and returned his hug, ruffling the younger’s hair as he pulled away. “So far so good. Haven’t had any problems yet, and the quiet of living alone is really nice. My previous roommates weren’t terrible but they could be pretty loud at the most inconvenient times.” He sighed at the memory of trying to write an extremely important paper while the roommate he shared a wall with was having the most ridiculously loud gaming session in history.

“Couldn’t have been worse than the time Sehun’s roommate brought an omega back in the middle of the night without warning him. I mean, there’s not even a wall or curtain to separate their halves of the room! At least you had your own space.”

Junmyeon winced at Jongin’s brief retelling. He’d been fortunate enough during his freshman year to room with a beta who cared as much about school as he did. Poor Sehun though… Junmyeon had been hearing horror stories revolving around his old roommate ever since the first day they’d met two weeks ago.

After the four of them had finished unloading Junmyeon’s boxes from the truck, Jongin insisted they stick around to help him arrange everything, despite how much the older had tried to protest. With Minseok’s backing and Sehun’s nonchalant shrug of agreement, he’d been easily defeated. Afterword, he’d bought them dinner as thanks, which had ended with him becoming pretty close to Jongin and Sehun. They’d exchanged numbers that night, and had texted regularly. Junmyeon had even gotten lunch with Jongin twice since then. But, despite the fact that Sehun regularly sent Junmyeon texts to check up on him, and sometimes even to ask questions about math, he hadn’t been able to meet with the young alpha.

Whatever response Junmyeon might haven given was cut off by the sound of someone knocking on the front door. It startled him a bit, causing him to jump and Jongin to laugh.

“That’s the chicken. Must’ve been buzzed in by someone else. I’ll be right back,” Minseok said as he pulled his wallet from his pocket and headed toward the door.

“I’ll grab some plates and napkins, then. Junmyeon, we already pulled out drinks and other snacks and put them in the living room,” Jongin said before disappearing around the corner. Junmyeon took that as his cue to get comfortable, Sehun following behind him.

Junmyeon wasn’t shocked to see blankets and pillows strewn across Minseok’s living room floor. He’d heard from his friend on numerous occasions that Jongin was guilty of creating blanket nests whenever he came over to hang out for any substantial amount of time. So instead of staring dumbfoundedly at the pile, Junmyeon just climbed right in, scooching over far enough so that everyone would fit, and leaned over to grab a can of soda from the drink/snack pile just within reach. Sehun clambered in after him.

A beat of comfortable silence passed between them before Sehun was suddenly turning himself to face Junmyeon instead of the tv. “Thanks for talking me through that math problem earlier this week. I was able to solve it on the quiz thanks to you.”

“Oh, yeah? That’s great, Sehun! I’m really glad I could help. If you have any more questions, just let me know. We could even try to work out a time to meet. I’m sure that’d be a lot easier than doing it over the phone again.” Junmyeon laughed at the memory of him trying to explain how to solve Sehun’s practice quiz problems without actually being able to see his work. 

Sehun laughed, a sound Junmyeon had heard plenty of times over dinner the night they’d first met. It was a really nice sound, Junmyeon had easily decided. And hearing him do it again, this time with the two of them sitting practically pressed against one another, Sehun’s hair a little messy and his usual contacts exchanged for glasses, had a strange yet vaguely familiar sensation stirring in Junmyeon’s stomach.

“I’d like that. But I’d like it better if we could find the time to meet without any math involved.” Sehun’s reply was a completely normal response, but for some reason Junmyeon felt a little nervous. It had him subconsciously reaching up to adjust his glasses, one of his habits that, if Minseok were to see, would get him teased for acting flustered.

“I--” Junmyeon started to speak after licking his lips, but the sentence was unable to be finished due to Jongin and Minseok’s simultaneous return.

“Let’s pick a movie and eat,” Minseok said as he stepped into the blanket nest. Jongin grabbed a bucket of chicken out of his brother’s hands and plopped down on Sehun’s other side.

“Pass the drumsticks to Junmyeon, they’re his favorite.” And after they were handed down, a movie was picked and Junmyeon never found another opportunity to speak with Sehun alone.

➷

The month that followed was filled with frequent meetings between the four of them. They would get together every Friday night, usually at Minseok’s, to curl up in Jongin’s newly made blanket nest to watch movies. They also tried to each lunch together at least once a week, but scheduling issues sometimes prohibited everyone from being able to go. A lot of times it was Junmyeon or Minseok who had to miss out -- grad student life was pretty busy. Junmyeon couldn’t find it in himself to be too bothered by it though; their group chat was lively and they made sure he never felt like he was being left out even when he couldn’t make it.

There was another new addition to Junmyeon’s life that month, too. It was something unexpected, and maybe even a little unwelcomed at first. It was a bit unnerving for Junmyeon to be faced with the prospect of dating, after all. It had always been difficult for him to find an alpha that understood his drive and passion, his focus on his schooling and future career. Past experiences had caused Junmyeon to grow extremely cautious around alphas that either liked him, or that he thought he might come to like. But Sehun had come quietly into his heart, and Junmyeon found himself relaxing in the younger’s presence, even if it took a bit of time for him to warm up to the idea of dating someone.

A few days after their first movie night, Sehun had started showing up and whisking Junmyeon away to do all sorts of things. Saying it like that probably made it a lot more dramatic than it actually was, though. In reality, Sehun and Junmyeon exchanged a lot of texts throughout the day, and so Sehun got pretty good at picking up on when the older was stressed out or having a hard time. And every time the alpha noticed Junmyeon’s distress, he never failed to locate the omega and offer some form of comfort.

It started out simply enough. Sehun came by Junmeyon’s office one evening to take him out for dinner. He’d figured the older needed to get out for a while, remembering how stressed he’d sounded when he’d called Minseok to let him know he’d have to skip lunch. It was nothing fancy -- it wasn’t even a date. But Junmyeon appreciated the gesture. He also did his best to ignore the slightly foreign feeling it evoked within him.

Little things like that built up until eventually Junmyeon found himself standing in his living room, face gently being caressed in Sehun’s hands as the young alpha softly touched their lips together. It was a sweet, almost chaste kiss that Sehun withdrew from fairly soon after he initiated it. He remained close to Junmyeon though, his hands sliding away from the older’s face, all the way down to his hands, which he enveloped in his own.

“Sehun…” Junmyeon trailed off in uncertainty. In the back of his mind he knew that their relationship had been headed in this direction, but he had been pushing thoughts like that away in fear that he’d hope too much and be let down. No matter how much Junmyeon liked Sehun, there was no guarantee things would work out once Junmyeon told Sehun that he wanted to take time to focus on his career before doing anything like mating or having kids. The alphas of his past had usually struggled with the idea of a serious relationship that didn’t foresee those types of things in the near future, if they were even on the table at all.

“Why are you making that face?” Sehun asked softly, a slight frown twisting his lips as his eyes roamed across Junmyeon’s face.

“A-am I making a face?”

“Yes. Like you’re upset about something.” A pause. “Upset and worried.”

Junmyeon bit his lip and sighed. Part of him felt like he should pull away from Sehun’s grasp, but another, larger part of himself wanted to remain within it, hopeful that Sehun would stick with him for the long run. 

“You might have heard Minseok and I talking about it but… Sehun, I really like you. I _really_ do. But that scares me because liking alphas has never gone well for me in the past. I’ve pretty much gotten used to it just being me. And that’s been alright, for the most part. There are so many things I still want to do in life, and one of those things is start my career -- really establish myself. I’m not even finished with grad school yet, but, once I do finish I want to focus on my career for a while before I do anything… life-altering, I guess you could say. It’s the way I’ve always thought about things. And, y’know, all my past experiences have shown me that finding someone that understands that and is willing to put in the time and effort required for that kind of relationship is really hard so I just...”

Junmyeon’s mini rant ended because he’d mustered up the courage to meet Sehun’s eyes and was surprised at what he found. He was nervous Sehun would be upset or annoyed, despite the fact that he knew Sehun was a good person and wouldn’t blame Junmyeon for caring about himself.

“So we just have to take things slow? That’s your only concern about us being together?” Sehun made it sound simple, which made Junmyeon equal parts thrilled and sick to his stomach.

“Yeah… I guess that’s all I’m saying. I, um, would like to date you, Sehun. Not casually, but…”

Sehun smiled and squeezed Junmyeon’s hands, making the omega glad he hadn’t chosen to pull away before getting his thoughts off his chest. It felt reassuring for the alpha to acknowledge how they were connected, even after Junmyeon had basically stated he had stipulations for their relationship.

“If that’s all you were worried about, you can relax now, Myeon. I was aware you thought that way already. It’s pretty easy to see if you pay attention -- and _trust me_ , I’ve been paying attention. It’s honestly one of the things I like most about you. I love the way your eyes light up when you talk about your classes, and I’ve literally listened to you spend an entire meal talking about nothing but what you plan to do once you finally earn your phd. I’m interested in being your mate; that’s not something I take lightly. Anyone who really wants to be that with another person shouldn’t have a problem finding what works best for their relationship.”

The definitive way Sehun said it had Junmyeon letting out a relieved breath. He’d always thought the same way, and hearing Sehun voice similar thoughts to his own made him a lot more confident about getting into a relationship with him.

“That’s good, then. I’m really glad you understand. Does this mean you want to… give it a try with me?”

Sehun snorted at Junmyeon’s joking attempt at being coy. “Yeah, it does. Does this mean you want to… kiss me again?”

The grin that split Junmyeon’s lips made it hard for them to follow through with the action, but Sehun was also smiling pretty wide so Junmyeon figured it was probably alright. After all, they were going to have plenty of time to exchange kisses in the future.

**Author's Note:**

> This turned out completely different than I intended. It was also supposed to be a lot longer but, life, y'know? That being said, I'm sorry if this is a little rushed. I took this prompt because I love abo (and the idea of younger alpha sehun with older omega junmyeon) and wanted to challenge myself by writing a first meeting type fic. It turned out like this but, regardless, I thought it was a really good experience for me.
> 
> To my prompter; I'm sorry if this isn't what you had in mind. I hope you, and everyone else, will get some enjoyment out of it!


End file.
